Compatt 5 for Subsea 7

The Max transponder has been introduced by Sonardyne to meet operator's needs for a semi-permanent seabed transponder that can be utilised for life-of-field subsea positioning tasks. An ultra long battery life up to between two and three years enables Compatt 5 Max transponders to be left in-situ throughout all drilling, production and construction activities. It is expected that this will produce valuable cost savings for field operators by minimising the vessel deployment costs typically associated with installing, recovering and then re-installing seabed transponders for each positioning task.

A Compatt 5 Max transponder provides all the benefits of Sonardyne's Wideband signal technology for multi-vessel and subsea vehicle positioning. A network of Compatt 5 Max transponders can therefore be used to provide DP and survey references for different vessels undertaking different tasks simultaneously. This applies to vessels equipped with both Sonardyne and non-Sonardyne systems such as Kongsberg's HiPAP.

A range of integrated sensors is available with the Compatt 5 Max. These include sound velocity sensors which are fitted as standard and permit positioning to be corrected for local variations in sound speed through the water column. Subsea 7 is has ordered all omni-directional transponders although directional transducers are also available for deep water deployment in water depths up to 5,000 metres.